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Happy reading.
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Chapter 2: TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE.
Alex's pov:
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A few broken dishes, a broken vase and probably even my broken back later, I was laying on top of the lunch table winded and confused as all the curious eyes in the vicinity turned to gawk at me.
I could feel a pointy fork digging into my back and hoped that my hair didn't have soup in it.
Thankfully there were no people eating at that table, otherwise, this very encounter would have been a lot more.... awkward than it already was. I slowly straightened up from the table and tried to dust off my clothes from the remnants of food.
Luckily I didn't cut myself on any broken shards but my shoulder ached with the unexpected rough landing, as it took the brunt of my fall. While I was slowly becoming aware of my well being (or not, depending on the perspective) a few random strangers continued to stare at me, some with pity, some curiosity and some with concern, and I tried to look as unfazed as I could.
The person who was utterly and unmistakably responsible for this whole disaster glared at me furiously, catching me off-guard for a moment with his unabashed good looks and how tall he was.
Ok, wrong day to forgo heels, I thought as I looked up at him.
His completely black and unreadable outfit was one of those bespoke-suit-from-Savile-Row type, with just a blue tie adding a hint of colour. His nose was straight, and his jaw sharp and angular. His dark hair was styled up giving a slight windswept form to the cropped strands and revealed his stormy eyes that glared down at me.
He looked over my shoulder and I followed his gaze to the back of a retreating man. And then his heated, yet cold eyes returned to me.
"You couldn't have watched where you walked?" He seethed angrily at me. His eyes kept darting at the man behind me yet again, making me curious what had happened, but I didn't turn around.
His eyes I noticed was swirls of all possible shades of grey woven together to fall into the abyss of dark pupils, they were hypnotic.
I met his powerful gaze with my own equally strong and defiant one. He was attractive in an obvious kind of way and had an air of superiority about himself, I could gauge that he might be some big shot, but his actions were totally crazed, and there was no excuse.
He seemed like one of those 'I-can-get-away-with-any-damn-thing', the entitled ones out there, and this one was going to get a piece of my mind.
What the hell? "And here I was expecting an apology.." I mumbled. Or maybe even a slight concern for my well being, I could have gotten seriously injured.
"Apology." He scoffed. "After all that.." With a tilt of his head, he gestured at me and all the broken havoc that had been caused. Papers with fine print littered the carpet along with bits of food and toppled drinks. And I was apparently stomping those fine printed papers with my shoes as if to drive the point home.
I tried to step away, only to step on other papers spread everywhere. It was pointless, and I realised his anger was misplaced.
"I had no idea-" I was rudely cut off by his loud voice.
"You couldn't have watched your step?" The fury in his eyes magnified.
Not letting him intimidate me with his angry words, I spoke above him, "Oh, I didn't know to check under the tables for egotistical jerks, I would do so from now on..." My tone was incredulous.
He didn't bother with a verbal response and as an answer just held up a stack of papers for me to see, the stack of papers which he was picking up from the floor. One of them had my shoe print on it and that just made me frown. He waved it in front of my face and continued glaring icy shards at me before saying, "If only you watched where you were going, this wouldn't have ended up in such a catastrophe, this is my last week's work you just happily stomped all over."
"You make it sound like I wanted to parade on your paperwork intentionally." I scoffed, "How was I to know there were important papers on the floor and if they were so important, couldn't you have been more careful instead of pinning the blame on me?"
He looked angrier suddenly, "Look, Miss-... "
Without giving him a chance to speak I continued to complain "No, you Look! look at you and look at me, it's as if I just crawled my way out of some kind of a food fight and do you have any idea that I have an important meeting today?"
His eyes swept along my lean frame as if for the first time noticing all the stains and creases that had now become a part of my outfit. And then he had the nerve to say, "Doesn't look like it could have gotten any worse if anything I did you a favour, at least now you have an excuse."
Wow. He definitely needed a taste of his own medicine. "You-you-!" At this point, I was clearly having a hard time finding appropriate offensive words for him.
But one thing I was sure of as I quickly reached for the only glass of red wine which had somehow managed to escape the collateral damage, and now had become a part of a greater cause when on a fiery impulse, I picked it up and splashed it all over his pretty picture of exorbitance.
"That makes us even, no need to thank me for the favour..." I smiled at him, yet regretted it the very next moment, but it was too late... he was behaving so rude, I couldn't help my childish impulse.
His jaw clenched, and hands fisted up at sides like he was trying hard not to punch something (me?). His face went fire-truck red with outrage, his eyes were blazing with a cold fire as they threatened bloody permanent frostbite if he continued glaring at me with those stone hard eyes. I swear if he was a cartoon character, smoke would be blowing out of his ears, and he would have been repeatedly struck by lightning coming out of a grey cloud on top of his head.
Regrettably, he wasn't one.
He did nothing to wipe off the ancient, red fermented liquid from his face that trickled down the edge of his jaw to his chin onto his silk tie. "How dare you!" he growled furiously.
I rolled my eyes at his show of anger.
He closed his eyes for a moment which seemed like an attempt to calm himself, but his gaze still held smouldering fire when he opened them again and finally spoke, "I'm giving you a chance to apologize and leave."
"Apologize?" oh how the tables have turned. "What for? Blotting your cufflink or blemishing your inflated ego?"
"That's enough." He growled. "You've done enough damage..." He raised a perfectly arched brow at me in a derisively condescending manner. "I'm kindly going to ask you to leave now," he said with a sneer, and contradictory to his words, his voice held no kindness.
The nerve of this guy...
"Sorry to burst your delicate little bubble mister, but I do not take orders from you." I was as sorry as he was kind. "And just because that scowl of yours suits your vile personality, doesn't mean you should ruin someone else's day" I added as-a-matter-of-fact, like extra toppings on a pizza, only his reaction lacked the general happiness.
He looked furious, "Just leave while I'm being gracious-"
"Oh, you were? I didn't notice... " That riled him up more if that was even possible.
He grumbled under his breath, "I can't take this nonsense anymore..." he signalled for a waiter to come over, the poor guy seemed scared out of his wits since he dropped whatever he was doing and just rushed over to his side.
"Call the security." The arrogant dude said to the waiter and the poor guy had no choice, so he ran off to obey.
"What are you gonna throw me out now?" He didn't look at me or speak, but his cold behaviour was a dead give-away. "I'm not surprised at your petty methods, you are just proving my assumptions right about you." I sneered at him.
"I don't give a damn about your opinion of me or anything else-" He said coldly.
"Mister whatever-your-name-is, I really couldn't care less of what you think, so how about you just zip it!" I spoke calmly, but my voice rose towards the end. "Tell you what? I'll save us both some time and drama and leave, but don't for a second think that you are right in your ways. I just don't want to stay in the vicinity of your dripping arrogance, it seems contagious."
With that said I turned away to leave, the man seemed like he could spontaneously combust but I was utterly unvexed.
"You-" he started to speak or most likely threaten me again, but I couldn't bother turning back around as I casually said, "Oh, put a sock in it."
I heard some gasps as I passed while some others wolf-whistled and I just ignored them and their dramatics. People these days can't mind their own business. Noticing all the eyes on me I yelled out "Show's over folks!" as I stepped back into the lobby space and out of that restaurant.
That went well.
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When I walked into the lobby area I quickly decided to call Kate, but my fingers stopped while hovering over my phone screen when I saw my friend right there, it would have been rather stubborn to miss her considering she was waving at me with immense elation and shrieking my name like I was about to get abducted by an army of psychopathic aliens, "Alex! Alex! Alex!"
Was it too late to pretend I didn't know her?
She wore a maroon knee-length dress and looked very 'businesslike' but that was until she started running towards me in her freakishly high heels to give me one of those 'best-friend hugs' but I stopped her just in time by putting up my hands in front of me, in an almost guarded way when she came closer "Kate! no, no, no, don't!"
Her curiously aghast eyes scanned my 'delicious' attire, before she howled with laughter, "Wait! let me guess... You were hungry enough to roll around in food? No-no wait.....you bit off more than you could chew?" she seemed amused.
"Taking pleasure in my pain...glad to know my best friend is a progressive sadist." I retort with a fake defeated sigh.
She shrugged and smirked, "A skill I acquired only from the best."
"I have created a monster!" I deadpanned with wide eyes.
"Well, what befell upon your joyous mood?" She asked, coming back to the point and looked at me before she once again dissolved into peals of laughter.
I didn't mind her teasing, but at that moment I pretended to mind it very much!
"I'd rather not revisit what happened." was my dramatic reply, which gave away nothing, but the fact that I found this situation entirely humorous.
The conversation started to flow as we both headed towards the restrooms, Kate was still waiting for me to elaborate, and I paused for a moment before answering "Nothing interesting happened, there was just a moron hiding under the table to 'PEEKABOO!' me or something, which was an epic fail... by the way, and this is the result of his childish prank."
I summed up the entire story as I gestured to my now sauce-stained clothes. When I looked at myself in a mirror, automatically an irritated, appalled look got plastered on my face as I internally seethed once again.
That idiot. Good thing I didn't let him walk all over me like a doormat. Maybe I should have done some more damage than that red wine. He deserved it for sure.
Kate could see the whole inner conflict on my face as she tried to calm me down, "Relax Alex, don't ruin your day because of some dimwit. We have managed to meet after such a long time, let's just have fun!"
"You're right" I completely agreed, "let's just focus on us." After I was done cleaning up to the best of my capabilities, we both headed back towards the lounge area and found a different restaurant in the same building.
I didn't want to cause another bloodbath here, as much as I would like to punch the living daylights out of his pretty face, I'd rather not, he would probably ask me to pay for his broken nose.
Pretentious blockhead!
"Speaking of dimwits, how is Kyle?" She directed, and I instantly dove into the latest story of me terrorizing my brother with several non-weapons and all was soon forgotten.
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Kate and I were settled in our comfortable chairs while relishing our brain-freezing drinks and, steaming saucy and excessively cheesy pizzas.
"My brother....goodness gracious!! he drives me crazy!" Kate was saying in an exasperated voice with wide troubled eyes. "He eats everything. My fridge always looks like it's been robbed and then tortured for more food."
Apparently, we were still on the topic of deranged brothers, it's never-ending and exhausting.
I could hardly sympathize with her since I was too busy laughing at the scene she painted for me.
Her brother Matthew was an interesting yet mysterious personality. He was an artist and his room was fundamentally an art sanctuary in Kate and his house, it seems he only emerges from it when in need of food. I have had the good fortune of running into him a few times and to witness his skills firsthand as he drove Kate up the wall. It was truly something that deserved popcorn and applause and I was never the one to cower from such an instant.
"Stop laughing this is serious!" she told me and I obviously ignored that demand. "What should I do Alex? It's like he doesn't realise that it takes a person to stock up the fridge, and god knows we'll both starve if I decided to depend on him." She sighed in dramatic dejection. "I should probably lose my gym membership, the trips to the grocery store is providing me with enough workout."
When I recovered from my laughing and was serious enough to offer a piece of advice I said "Maybe you shouldn't buy his favourite food, like his cereal, frozen pizza and the beef jerky he seems to like so much, let him suffer, that'll teach him a lesson."
Kate's eyes sparkled like I just told her the secret to eternal life, "That is evil Alex. Pure evil. You're an evil genius!"
"That I am," I smirked at the compliment.
"This is gonna work. I'm sure it will." Kate mumbled, and then we moved on from the topic.
Making up any situation more detrimental than they were, was a favourite pastime for us, and the fact that no one ever understood our jokes made it more hilarious for some reason.
We have been talking and laughing for more than an hour, catching up on each other's lives. "Anyway enough about me, what's with you lately, plan any more parties?"
I moaned and groaned exaggeratedly as I hid my face in my arms on top of the small table. "Why do you find such pleasure in my torment?"
It was her turn to laugh at my pathetic situation. "What are you saying? I see the makings of a great event planner in front of me." The sarcasm in her words was unmistakable.
"You have no idea how bad it is." I started explaining it to her. "Mom wants me to live at home and plan parties with her, just today she got mad at me for not unpacking my boxes, god knows what she would do if she finds out I've been living out of a suitcase this entire time."
"You're still living out of a suitcase?" Kate asked incredulously. "It's your home Alex, not a hotel room, you can move out when you find a job and a place."
"I know....but I just got here and I don't want to go through the whole course of unpacking and packing again when I'm obviously not staying for long, and it's silly I get it, but I don't want to be too comfortable in case I ended up changing my mind about moving out."
Kate's eyes turned empathic at my confession, she was well aware of the fact that I hated living alone and coming home to family was way too nice of an offer to give up, but it had to be done, I couldn't depend on them any longer just because of my stupid inhibitions.
"I was going to drag it out but now seems like the right time." She suddenly said, making me frown in confusion.
"For what?"
"There's a vacancy in my office. It's an executive-level job." She explained and I quickly caught on. My eyes were gleaming as I heard about this opportunity, it was exactly what I was looking for, to put to test my supposedly 'productive' degree in business school.
Okay, so maybe not supposedly productive, it was decent enough. It had helped me climb up the career ladder to an executive-level so far, so it's a little dependable.
I'm definitely not in dire need of money or anything of that sort, but I refuse to stay home and plan parties with my mom!
"So, what do you say? You just have to give an interview and the job is yours!" she informed with a giddy smile, which made me think that she was happier for me than I was for myself.
"As much as I love my 'unemployed' career status, I say why not?!" I excitedly agreed. I hope this will work out for good.
"Just apply for it by sending in your resume, you will get the call for an interview in a day or two, soon we will be colleagues!" she grinned happily and sort-of bounced in her chair.
Her bright olive-green eyes suddenly widened when she accidentally glimpsed at her watch and quickly shot up to stand upright while speaking in a hurry "Oh no, I totally lost track of time."
I glanced at my phone and agreed "yeah, we did."
"My boss is downstairs, he must have concluded his meeting, so I've got to go, okay?" she projected an apologetic guilty smile my way and I nodded in understanding.
"No worries." I stood up smiling and gave her a light hug- which was more like a weird pat on the back (wouldn't want to ruin her nice dress now).
"Okay, see you later," I said and watched her as she sped away towards the elevators, and practically disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds.
I stared after her and thought 'the amount of running she does in high heels was truly astonishing.'
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